The subject invention generally relates to ink jet printing, and more particularly to thin film ink jet printheads for ink jet cartridges and methods for manufacturing such printheads.
The art of ink jet printing is relatively well developed. Commercial products such as computer printers, graphics plotters, and facsimile machines have been implemented with ink jet technology for producing printed media. The contributions of Hewlett-Packard Company to ink jet technology are described, for example, in various articles in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, Vol. 36, No. 5 (May 1985); Vol. 39, No. 5 (October 1988); Vol. 43, No. 4 (August 1992); Vol. 43, No. 6 (December 1992); and Vol. 45, No. 1 (February 1994); all incorporated herein by reference.
Generally, an ink jet image is formed pursuant to precise placement on a print medium of ink drops emitted by an ink drop generating device known as an ink jet printhead. Typically, an ink jet printhead is supported on a movable carriage that traverses over the surface of the print medium and is controlled to eject drops of ink at appropriate times pursuant to command of a microcomputer or other controller, wherein the timing of the application of the ink drops is intended to correspond to a pattern of pixels of the image being printed.
A typical Hewlett-Packard ink jet printhead includes an array of precisely formed nozzles in an orifice plate that is attached to an ink-barrier layer which in turn is attached to a thin film substructure that implements ink firing heater resistors and apparatus for enabling the resistors. The ink barrier layer defines ink channels including ink chambers disposed over associated ink firing resistors, and the nozzles in the orifice plate are aligned with associated ink chambers. Ink drop generator regions are formed by the ink chambers and portions of the thin film substructure and the orifice plate that are adjacent to the ink chambers.
The thin film substructure is typically comprised of a substrate such as silicon on which are formed various thin film layers that form thin film ink firing resistors, apparatus for enabling the resistors, and also interconnections to bonding pads that are provided for external electrical connections to the printhead. The thin film substructure more particularly includes a top thin film layer of tantalum disposed over the resistors as a thermomechanical passivation layer.
The ink barrier layer is typically a polymer material that is laminated as a dry film to the thin film substructure, and is designed to be photodefinable and both UV and thermally curable.
An example of the physical arrangement of the orifice plate, ink barrier layer, and thin film substructure is illustrated at page 44 of the Hewlett-Packard Journal of February 1994, cited above. Further examples of ink jet printheads are set forth in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,477 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,346, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A consideration with the foregoing ink jet printhead architecture includes delamination of the ink barrier layer from the thin film substructure. Delamination pricipally occurs from environmental moisture and the ink itself which is in continual contact with the edges of the thin film substructure/barrier interface in the drop generator regions.